Escaype Live actor Siddharth finds the term 'pan-India' disrespectful and funny

Shortly after the Telugu megahit RRR, directed by SS Rajamouli, stormed the box office, the Yash-starrer KGF 2 has been striking gold at the box office. Recently, the Prashanth Neel directorial crossed the Rs 1200 crore mark worldwide, becoming the third Indian film to achieve this feat.

While Aamir Khan's Dangal's total worldwide collections stood at around Rs 1,200+ crore, SS Rajamouli's magnum opus Baahubali 2: The Conclusion breached the Rs 1,500 crore mark in global box office collections. Let's wait and watch if KGF 2 can achieve the same, soon.

In an interview with IndiaToday.in, Siddharth, who is awaiting the release of Escaype Live, (the series will drop on Disney+Hotstar on May 20), tells how it is disrespectful to call a regional film, a pan-India flick. "I find it extremely funny. I've been working in multiple languages for more than 15 years, and I've been speaking in my voice. Nobody has ever dubbed for me. I have spoken as a Tamilian in Tamil films, as a local Telugu boy in Telugu films and as a Bhagat Singh in Hindi films too. So for me, I would like them to be called Indian films because I think the word pan-India is very disturbingly disrespectful."

Further, Siddharth told IndiaToday.in, "I don't mean to ruffle any feathers, but it's called othering. So, if you think that Hindi cinema is the superior industry, other big films should be called pan-India because they come from regional cinema, you are wrong. They cater to people across the country as well. But, these films will not be called Hindi films, they'll be called Bollywood films. What does that mean? Either you respect KGF’s journey and call it a Kannada film. What is this nonsense pan-India film? Otherwise, you respect its impact and you call it an Indian film. You don't say pan-Indian film, you say Indian film. I don't understand this word pan - it's a funny word."

In addition to Yash, the sequel of KGF features Bollywood actor Raveena Tandon and marks Sanjay Dutt's debut in Kannada films. "

KGF: Chapter 2 also stars Prakash Raj, Malavika Avinash, and Srinidhi Shetty, among others.